WORCESTER, Mass. - Three school records fell as the Saint Michael's College men's and women's swimming & diving teams capped the four-day Northeast 10 Conference Championship on Sunday at Worcester Polytechnic Institute's (WPI) Sports & Recreation Center.
Junior
Hunter Daily (Amherst, N.H./Souhegan) and first-year
Robert Riccobon (West Hartford, Conn./Avon Old Farms School) twice lowered 200-yard breaststroke and 200-yard butterfly records, respectively, while senior
Rafael Kowal (Plattsburgh, N.Y./Plattsburgh/Alfred State) shattered the 1,650-yard freestyle mark.
MEN'S MEET
NOTES
- The Purple Knights took sixth among nine schools with 307 points, only eight short of fifth-place College of Staten Island.
- The University of Bridgeport won the championship with 967.5 points.
SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS
- Kowal placed sixth in the 1,650 free at 16:21.24, shattering a school record he set on Nov. 22 by 17.31 seconds. Junior Cal Baird (Saratoga Springs, N.Y./Saratoga Springs) finished 13th (17:39.73).
- After entering the 200 fly seeded 17th, Riccobon took 12th in morning trials with a time of 1:57.19, shattering Pat Thornton's '19 decade-old mark of 2:00.49, set on Feb. 14, 2016. During the evening finals, Riccobon was again 12th and dropped 0.06 seconds to reset the record at 1:57.13.
- Daily trimmed his own three-month-old 200 breast standard by 0.76 seconds to take 15th in 2:15.03 during morning trials. He also lowered that mark in a 13th-place finals showing, to 2:14.33.
- Seniors Alex Meek (Essex Junction, Vt./Essex) and Gavin Nelson (Winona, Minn./Winona Senior) took 15th (2:03.53) and 16th (2:06.80), respectively, in the 200-yard backstroke. Nelson had entered the day as the No. 24 seed in the event.
- Kowal, Riccobon, junior JJ Kane (Sparta, N.J./Pope John XXIII Regional) and sophomore Lucas Haynes (Holliston, Mass./Holliston) combined to place seventh in the 400 free relay (3:13.40). The Purple Knights' B team of Daily, Meek, and seniors Ben Insley (Plattsburgh, N.Y./Plattsburgh) and Ryan McCaffrey (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/George Washington) was 16th (3:18.93).
WOMEN'S MEET
NOTES
- The Purple Knights placed eighth out of nine squads with 247 points, trimming ninth-place Assumption University (239.5) while finishing within range of seventh-place Staten Island (258) and sixth-place Adelphi University (274).
- Southern Connecticut State University won with 957.5 points.
SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS
- Junior Madeline Waldt (Abingdon, Md./The Catholic High School of Baltimore) finished eighth in the 1,650 free (18:35.39) for her team's top individual finish. Sophomore Shay Callanan (Shaftsbury, Vt./Mount Anthony Union) was 12th (19:27.63) and first-year Nola Klaus (Saratoga Springs, N.Y./Saratoga Springs) took 16th (20:31.60).
- Senior Riley Beaudoin (Groton, Mass./Groton-Dunstable Regional) entered the 200 fly as the 17th seed but finished 11th in both the trials and finals, clocking in at 2:19.52 during the evening race to drop 1.98 seconds from her morning showing. Sophomore Mary Mongelli (Rockville, Md./Academy of the Holy Cross) was 17th in trials, missing the 16th and final qualifying position for finals by 0.17 seconds.
- Callanan, the 24th seed in the 200 back, claimed 12th in finals at 2:17.80, trimming 0.47 seconds from her trials performance.
- Junior Hannah Steen (Portsmouth, R.I./Portsmouth) was 16th in the 100 free (57.91).
- Steen, juniors Ashley Meade (Belle Harbor, N.Y./Sacred Heart Academy) and Ayden Walsh (Tallahassee, Fla./Creekside), and sophomore Sydney McSweeney (Warwick, N.Y./Warwick Valley) took seventh in the 400 free relay (3:43.05). Beaudoin, Callanan, Klaus and Waldt secured a 17th-place finish (3:53.23).
